SAN ANTONIO — For 101 years Girl Scouts has successfully supported girls in building their courage, confidence and character through hundreds of proven programs including the Girl Scout Cookie Program, which represents the largest girl-led business in the world.

In this program girls learn five essential business skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics. Proceeds from cookie sales send troops off to camp and pay other expenses so that scouting is available to all girls regardless of their economic situation. Proceeds also fund their service projects, many of which benefit our community's most needy including the homeless, children with special needs, seniors and animals.

How effective have Girl Scouts been in developing future leaders? Across the U.S., 80 percent of the women who own their own business were involved in Girl Scouts, and the majority of women in executive positions in business and government were Girl Scouts.

Never in the organization's history has the Girl Scouts endorsed a political candidate or party, or taken a position on a political issue, especially those involving reproduction.

Sadly, politics and hate are being hurled at our girls as a result of Pro Life Waco's campaign to encourage us to boycott buying Girl Scout cookies. The controversy was sparked by the innocuous re-tweeting of a blog intended to ask girls who they think should be woman of year. The strategy is getting the Waco group headlines for its cause at the expense of innocent girls participating in one of America's iconic programs — Girl Scouts.

Pro-life advocates should speak up and say this attack is off limits. We don't need adults telling our girls they are baby killers.

It saddens me that in the U.S., where we cherish our freedoms, that adults would choose to take their fight to the front lines of hardworking girls who are investing the time to better themselves to become responsible adults. Let this be our call to display courage and speak up for our girls to say that this is unacceptable. If we don't, attacks like this will continue. Please let your voices be heard, and let's support our troops! I am, and along with that, I plan to buy even more Girl Scout cookies this year to send to our military troops overseas.

They are fighting for the freedoms that enable our young girls to grow up with equal opportunity to be anything they want to be. God bless all our troops — including our Girl Scout troops. They are tomorrow's leaders!